In certain orthopaedic surgery procedures, a surgeon will have to drill holes in bone to subsequently accommodate a screw type. It is therefore essential to the procedure at hand that the depth of a bore hole in bone that has been drilled is accurately determined so that the appropriate screw type can be selected.
A common know procedure is to measure the depth of the bore hole using a standard mechanical/electronic depth gauge after drilling. However, this can lead to incorrect depths being obtained as the depth is only determined after the drilling has been completed. In addition, it can require several drilling steps to obtain the desired depth. Such a prior art device is known from US2010/0137874A1.
Another known option is to use drills with a scale and slider to indicate drill depth. However, obtaining an accurate reading from the scale can be a cumbersome process, especially when operating the drill. The problem is exaggerated when using small diameter drill bits.